Text 19
prakṛtir yasyopādānam
ādhāraḥ puruṣaḥ paraḥ
sato ’bhivyañjakaḥ kālo
brahma tat tritayaṁ tv aham
prakṛtiḥ — material nature; yasya — of which (produced manifestation of the universe); upādānam — the ingredient cause; ādhāraḥ — the foundation; puruṣaḥ — the Personality of Godhead; paraḥ — Supreme; sataḥ — of the real (nature); abhivyañjakaḥ — the agitating agent; kālaḥ — time; brahma — the Absolute Truth; tat — this; tritayam — group of three; tu — but; aham — I.
The material universe may be considered real, having nature as its original ingredient and final state. Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu is the resting place of nature, which becomes manifest by the power of time. Thus nature, the almighty Viṣṇu and time are not different from Me, the Supreme Absolute Truth.
Material nature is the energy of the Lord, Mahā-Viṣṇu is His plenary portion, and time represents the Lord’s activity. In this way, time and nature are always subservient to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who creates, maintains and annihilates all that exists through the agency of His potencies and plenary portions. In other words, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Truth because He contains all existence within Himself.